What’s New and What’s Going – Everything from Apple’s October 2016 Event

After years of pushing, demanding, and hating the Cupertino tech giant, today was the lucky day that brought us the brand new 2016 MacBook Pro. Apple’s “Hello Again” event focused on new Macs and the company’s vision for the future of TV (which apparently doesn’t include Netflix). While there wasn’t a long list of new products or software updates, we are finally getting the new Macs. Wondering what is all the hype about? Here are the top highlights of today’s Apple event.

The all new 2016 MacBook Pro – brings a touch screen bar right on the keyboard

The MacBook was the spotlight of the event. This week marks the 25th anniversary of the original laptop, the PowerBook. Marking the anniversary, Apple is introducing some big changes to the MacBook lineup. As leaked in the last couple of months, MacBook Pro has bid farewell to the function key row. The new MacBook Pro comes with a futuristic OLED touch strip that Apple is calling the Touch Bar.

It’s a Retina display which shows controls, depending on the application you are using. Open new tabs in Safari, select emojis while writing an email, play around with colors in Photoshop? This customizable touch strip is what will attract the buyers to this new MacBook Pro.

This is also the first time that Apple is integrating the Touch ID in the MacBook Pro. Built right into the Power button, the Touch ID with a local secure enclave is placed right next to the Touch Bar. Apart from Apple Pay and other authentication uses, Touch ID also allows to quickly switch between accounts by simply tapping the button.

The new MacBook Pro is thinner, lighter and comes in an all-metal case. Apple is offering the new Pro in two models: a 13-inch and a 15-inch model. The 2016 MacBook Pro starts at $1799 going up to $2399. Apple has also introduced a MacBook Pro for $1499 that is without the Touch Bar.

Apple TV gets a new “TV” app, brings videos from multiple services

Apple announced a new TV app for the Apple TV that will be a unified hub for content across all the different apps. With TV, you can browse videos from a number of apps and services in one place. The TV app also uses a single sign-on process, automatically signing you in to new apps as you add them to your devices. The app will be available on Apple TV, iPad and iPhone in December.

Apple has also improved Siri for the Apple TV, allowing you to pull up live TV broadcasts. You can ask Siri to go to a news channel to watch a sport live. Siri will also know what app is playing what you are looking for, and will open it directly. With improved Siri and new TV app, Apple aims to change how you watch TV.

What’s missing?

The event focused on the new MacBook Pro and improvements coming to Apple TV. But, there are some things that are also going away. Apple has kept the headphone jack, but done away with the MagSafe charging port. This means our favorite magnetic charging port is potentially leaving the Apple ecosystem.

Apple also didn’t mention any upgrades for the MacBook Air. Now, that the 13-inch MacBook Pro is lighter than the MacBook Air, the product line seems to be getting sidelined by the company. Function keys are, of course, also going, and so is the SD card slot. Would you miss these features and products? We will certainly miss MagSafe.